CPJ welcomes indictment of 200 in Maguindanao slaying

New York, February 9, 2010—An indictment in the Philippines of nearly 200 people in the November 23 killings of 57 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, is a welcome first step toward achieving justice in this terribly slaying, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ hopes that this signals a coming reversal in the country’s abysmal record of impunity.

According to local and international news reports, the indictment charged the powerful local politician and
political clan leader Andal Ampatuan Sr. and others (differing media reports
put the number somewhere between 195 and 197) of conspiring to ambush and kill
members of the rival Mangudadatu family and supporters, who were gunned down in
Maguindanao province. The killings were allegedly carried out to prevent Esmael
Mangudadatu from challenging the Ampatuans’ control of the province in May’s
elections. The 32 journalists and media workers killed in the attack were in a convoy
with Mangudadatu’s family members and his political allies to
enter his name as a candidate.

“This is a welcome fist step in addressing this
terrible attack,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia
program coordinator. “But with a change in political administrations at the
provincial and national level expected after May’s elections, the Philippines’
judiciary and prosecutorial teams must maintain the energy to bring what will
be a very complex judicial process to completion.”